Butterflies and Moths Part 31

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 113.--THE SCARLET TIGER.]

This moth is a common one. It may be taken in June and July. I have seen it flying somewhat freely while the sun was still shining brightly.

The caterpillar is very dark lead colour, nearly black; and is covered with little wart-like projections, from each of which protrudes a short black hair. There is a broad yellow broken line down the back, and two others on the sides. It feeds on the hound's-tongue (_Cynoglossum officinale_) and many other low-growing plants, hybernates through the winter, and is fully grown in May. Like the other members of this family, it spins a light silken coc.o.o.n, in which the hairs from its body are interwoven.

Family--CHELONIIDae

_The Wood Tiger_ (_Nemeophila Plantaginis_)

The _Cheloniidae_ are popularly known as the Tigers--a t.i.tle suggested by the tiger-like colouring of some of the prominent species. They differ from the Scarlet Tiger and the other members of the _Eucheliidae_ in that the males have ciliated or fringed antennae. The larvae, too, are more densely covered with hair.

The Wood Tiger (fig. 2, Plate X) is a beautiful insect, somewhat variable in its markings, but so conspicuously coloured that our ill.u.s.tration cannot fail to lead to its identification. It may be found commonly among the undergrowth of our southern woods during May and June.

The caterpillar is dark brown or brownish black, covered with little hair-bearing warts. The hairs are long and black on the foremost and hind segments, but shorter and of a brown colour on the middle of the body. It issues from the egg in September, feeds for a week or two on the leaves of violets (_Viola canina_ and _V. odorata_), heartsease (_V.

tricolor_), plantain (_Plantago_), or groundsel (_Senecio vulgaris_), and then hybernates till the following March. It is fully grown in May, and then spins a light coc.o.o.n, with which its hairs are interwoven, among the leaves of its food plant.

_The Tiger_ (_Arctia caia_)

This splendid moth is exceedingly variable in its colour and markings, but its usual appearance corresponds closely with that of the ill.u.s.tration on Plate X (fig. 3). In some specimens the cream colour almost entirely covers the fore wings, while in others all four of the wings are completely covered with shades of brown. This insect is probably known to all my readers, for it is abundant everywhere.

The larva is as well known as the perfect insect. It is a kind of universal feeder, partaking readily of almost every low-growing plant, with perhaps a special partiality for dead nettles (_Lamium alb.u.m_ and _L. purpureum_). It feeds also on the lime tree (_Tilia vulgaris_), and is commonly met with on apple trees and on the various plants of our flower beds. The young caterpillar makes its appearance in the autumn, and hybernates after feeding for two or three weeks only. It is full grown in June, when it spins a silken coc.o.o.n, and changes to a shiny black chrysalis.

The ground colour of the larva is black, but it is covered all over with long hairs, those down the middle of the back being grey, and the others brown. This familiar larva is known popularly as the Woolly Bear.

_The Cream-spot Tiger_ (_Arctia villica_)

There is yet another Tiger--the Cream-spot--too beautiful and too common to be excluded from our list. It is represented on Plate X (fig. 4); and, like the others of its genus, is so boldly marked that mistaken ident.i.ty is impossible.

It is a very sluggish moth, more often seen at rest than on the wing, and will suffer itself to be roughly handled without making any attempt to escape.

The caterpillar may be observed on sunny banks, generally feeding on chickweed (_Stellaria media_) but sometimes on various other low-growing weeds, including the dock and the dandelion. Its colour is black, with red head and legs, and its body is covered with long brown hairs. It commences to feed in the autumn, hybernates throughout the winter, and is full grown in May, towards the end of which month it changes to a black chrysalis within a light silken web.

The perfect insect appears in June.

_The Buff Ermine_ (_Spilosoma lubricipeda_)

The _Cheloniidae_ also include three moths that are popularly known as the Ermines, two of which--the Buff and the White--are exceedingly common, and are among the constant visitors to our gardens during June and July.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 114.--THE BUFF ERMINE.]

The Buff Ermine has all four wings of a buff or ochreous tint, and spotted with black as here represented.

The caterpillar is whitish, with a white line down the middle of the back, and its body is covered with long light brown hairs. It feeds on the dock (_Rumex_) and many other low-growing plants during August and September, and spends the winter in the chrysalis state, lying within a loose coc.o.o.n on the surface of the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 115.--THE WHITE ERMINE.]

_The White Ermine_ (_Spilosoma Menthastri_)

In this species the wings are of a pale cream colour, and the dots of the fore wings are more uniformly distributed than in the last. Its habits and life history closely correspond with those of _Lubricipeda_, and its larva may be found feeding on the same plants.

This latter may be distinguished from the caterpillar of the last species by the dark brown or black colour of the body, and the presence of an orange line down the back. It is covered with long brown hairs.

Family--HEPIALIDae

The five species which compose this family are known as the Swifts, a t.i.tle which they have earned by their rather rapid flight. Their wings are narrow, and the antennae very short.

In the larval state they are long, naked and unsightly grubs, that live under the surface of the ground and feed on the roots of plants. The chrysalides are armed with short spines projecting from the segments.

_The Ghost Swift_ (_Hepialus Humuli_)

One of the commonest of these moths is the Ghost Swift, which may be seen in hundreds on waste places in the south of England during the month of June. The wings of the male are white, with a silky gloss, and a very narrow brown margin. The fore wings of the female are yellow, marked with irregular reddish lines. The hind wings are of a dull smoke colour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 116.--THE GHOST SWIFT--FEMALE.]

The larva is pale yellow, with a brown head, and a brown h.o.r.n.y plate on the front of the second segment. It feeds throughout the winter on the roots of numerous plants, including the dock, dandelion, burdock, white dead nettle, black h.o.r.ehound, and the hop.

_The Common Swift_ (_Hepialus lupulinus_)

The fore wings of the male of this species are brown, with a bent whitish streak, sometimes broken, pa.s.sing from the base to the middle of the inner margin, and then to the apex. The hind wings are smoke coloured, with a light brownish fringe. The female is much less distinctly marked, and presents a rather dingy appearance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 117.--THE COMMON SWIFT.]

The larva is dingy white, with brown h.o.r.n.y plates on the second, third and fourth segments. It feeds on the roots of dead nettles (_Lamium alb.u.m_ and _L. purpureum_), black h.o.r.ehound (_Ballota nigra_), and various other herbaceous plants, throughout the winter months, and is full grown in April.

This insect is abundant everywhere in waste places, and may be seen on the wing in May and June.

Family--COSSIDae

The members of this family have longer antennae than the _Hepialidae_, and the females are provided with extended ovipositors which enable them to place their eggs in the deep crevices of the bark of trees.

The larvae are naked or only very slightly hairy, and have a plate on the second segment. They feed on the wood of trees or the interior of the stems of reeds. The pupae have spiny projections on each segment.

_The Goat Moth_ (_Cossus ligniperda_)

There are only three British species of this family, the largest of which is the Goat Moth, so called on account of the characteristic odour of the larva, an odour said to resemble that emitted by the goat.

The fore wings of this fine moth are pale brown, clouded with white, and marked by numerous wavy transverse lines. The hind wings are somewhat similar, but of a duller tint, and the markings are less distinct. Its average breadth from tip to tip is over three inches, and it sometimes reaches nearly four inches.